We’ve all heard the siren call of Barbieland — the hot pink Dream Houses, the plastic palm fronds, the artificial sun. The press tour currently underway is unsurprisingly leaning into the franchise; this week, there’s a candy-coloured Corvett and Margot Robbie in a polka dot halterneck. But the imagination didn’t stop there. Paris Hilton donned a veritable disco ball, and Natasha Lyonne had fun in monochromatic flower sunnies.
Margot Robbie
Another week, another photo of Margot Robbie in hot pink. This halter-neck dress from Valentino is perhaps one of her most (sorry) dolled-up yet, a delightful polka dot cut-out mini that you’d imagine in a Barbie fashion two-pack. Manolo Blahnik pumps and a tiny yellow shoulder bag, also from Valentino, complete the character-driven ensemble.
Kate McKinnon
Then there was Kate McKinnon, appearing relaxed in a three-piece suit. The actor, who seems to play a sort of advice-giving Destroyed Barbie (the one whose hair we haphazardly chopped and face we scribbled on with multitudinous crayons), leaned and laughed comfortably in this look, important criteria when the plastic, pastel, perfect world in which she weighs a dilemma — heels or Birkenstocks? — is still one month’s worth of media touring away from its release.
Paris Hilton
She might not have been at the Barbie press junket, but Paris Hilton read the saccharine room. Glittering up-do? Check. Pink? Double check. It’s as if it’s all been refracted through a sparkling franchise filter, and it’s great. Sometimes you just want to have fun in a disco-ready Ludovic de Saint Sernin mini.
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Ashley Park
You only need to look at her earlier feathery, canary-yellow Versace number to know that actress Ashley Park doesn’t shy from ostentation. This week, she kept things gold and gilded on the pink carpet for her buoyant new girls-trip comedy Joy Ride, from Crazy Rich Asians’ screenwriter Adele Lim.
Stephanie Hsu
She rose to fame with Everything Everywhere All At Once, and the star is dressing for the occasion. Joining Ashley Park, Stephanie Hsu wears a Ulla Johnson satin-cotton crop top and crunchy-looking leather parachute pants. There’s poufy sleeves, there’s texture, there’s burgundy. Tres chic!
Alexa Chung
The fashion stalwart stepped out in a lovely square-neck minidress from New Zealand-born, London-based designer Emilia Wickstead. A little rose garden. Slightly royal sans the hemline. But, ultimately, the sort of elegant design you wear to an outdoor party come summertime. Bonus points for the elaborately long train and sophisticated fishnets.
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It was a racy trifecta for model Jourdan Dunn: a hip-high split, cut-outs that spanned the entirety of her torso, and a spangled scarf element that could be tossed over the shoulder with attitude (and dexterity).
Natasha Lyonne
The ebullient actress leans into the monochrome agenda in Christopher Kane, the minidress bookended with white satin trims and complemented with over-the-knee stockings. Better yet, the Loewe sunglasses: a petally, 90s-esque touch that shows that black and white doesn’t have to be boring.
Ikram Abdi Omar
Model Ikram Abdi Omar opted for a sunbeam of a thing, a sweeping Carolina Herrera trench gown with three-quarter sleeves, a point collar and button-down front, and a hem that enveloped some square meterage in the garden.
Molly Goddard
British fashion designer Molly Goddard has built her label on a brand of hyper-frou-frou confection, all ruffles and poodle skirts and excess, with an anti-establishment bent. Her more recent collections have, however, pared things back, and this handsomely shirred osmosis of a blazer and a dress is a great example. Here was something playful and sensible, and just as attention-grabbing.
